Terror in Israel Leads to War on Hamas
The Associated Press is reporting that the Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 198 people have been killed and more than 1,600 wounded so far in on-going Israeli airstrikes on Gaza following Israel’s Declaration of War in response to unprecedented Hamas terror attack on Israel.
Israel announced that it was bombing targets on the Gaza Strip in response to “the barrages of rockets" and mass shooting attacks by Palestinian militants.
Israel's national rescue service said at least 40 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the deadliest attack in Israel in years.
Hamas militants carried out their multi-pronged attack on Israel, firing thousands of rockets as Hamas fighters simultaneously infiltrated the heavily fortified border by land, sea and reportedly even by parasail, catching Israel by surprise on the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret, which follows the festival of Sukkot.
Ofir Libstein, the mayor of Sha'ar HaNegev, was reportedly killed in the attacks, the Times of Israel reported, when he went to defend the town during the attack, according to the mayor's office.
Loudspeakers outside of mosques in Gaza reportedly broadcast prayers of mourning for dead Hamas militants as video and images emerged of Israelis who were kidnapped and taken hostage.
Palestinian media is reportedly claiming that Hamas has captured at least 50 Israeli women; images and videos circulating online showed a number of women being taken to or paraded through Gaza, some appeared to be no more than children, many appeared badly wounded and abused.
Israeli Commander Nimrod Aloni was also reportedly captured by Hamas, along with an unknown number of both civilians, including women and elderly, and IDF soldiers alike.
Videos also showed corpses of victims being paraded through the streets and desecrated
Celebrations broke out in Lebanon where Muslims who felt festive were handing out candy
and in the Sultanate of Oman, muslims celebrate, waving Palestinian flags, and chanting their demands for holy war
And in Palestine itself, where citizens including young children waved around guns reportedly captured from murdered IDF soldiers.
Israeli police arrested a number of militants but the conflict continues, with reports of conflicts at multiple border locations continuing into the day.
There are also reports of IDF activity on the streets in southern Israel working to intercept militants going door to door to kill Israeli citizens, as seen in the video below.